Although the public and private sector in both developing and developed economies are

arguably equally affected by the advent of the computerised accounting information systems
(CAIS), evidence on state-owned enterprise (SOEs) in developing countries is limited. Using
an in-depth case study of four Ghanaian SOEs, this study explores the conception, motivation,
assessment, benefits and challenges surrounding CAIS in developing countries. The study
shows that external (e.g. innovation) and internal (e.g. volume of data) factors, as well as
potential benefits (e.g. accuracy) of CAIS contribute to its adoption. The study also
observesthat integration of the CAIS with other existing information systems is virtually
nonexistent to allow sharing of financial information on real time basis. The implications of
these findings are discussed in relation to theory, practice and policy, with the aim of
contributing towards formalising CAIS in SOEs in developing economies.
Key words: Accounting Information Systems, public sector, developing country, Ghana.
Research Type: Case study
Introduction
As information technologies grow more progressive, the manual accounting systems have
become gradually inadequate for decision needs (Brecht and Martin, 1996). Consequently,
public and private sector firms in both developing and developed economies view CAIS as a
vehicle to ensure effective and efficient information flow in the recording, processing, and
analysis of financial data. Effective and efficient information flow enhances managerial
decision-making, thereby increasing the firms ability to achieve corporate and business
strategy objectives (Manson, McCartney, and Sherer, 2001). This in turn, may increase the
prospects of the firms survival (Platt and Platt, 2012).
CAIS-related issues research, due to its importance to practice and education (Poston and
Grabski, 2000), is well documented in the accounting information systems literature.
Chenhall and Morris (1986), for example, examine the impact of contextual variables such as
structure, environment, and interdependence on CAIS design and performance. Brecht and
Martin (1996) explore opportunities for accountants to contribute to systems design. Poston
and Grabskis (2000) survey focuses on the underlying theory motivating the research and
predicted that future CAIS research would maintain a balance between normative and
positive work with organisational theory. Subsequently, research considers use of accounting
information by operations managers (Van der Veeken and Wouters, 2002) and enterprise
resource planning system and management accounting change (Scapens and Jazayeri, 2003).
Likewise, Arnold, Clark, Collier, Leech and Sutton (2006) examine the effects of knowledge
based systems on decision-making and find that the availability of a fully functional
explanation facility influence both novices and experts judgments. Dehning, Pfeiffer and
Richardson (2006) also consider analysts forecasts and investments in information
technology (IT) using a dataset of over 1,000 US firms, thus emphasizing that IT spending
increases earnings forecasts, dispersion and error. Ferguson and Seows (2011) review
confirms the continuing decline in analytical and model-building research in accounting
information system related research, resulting in research that considers accounting

information and managerial work (Hall, 2010) and the utilization of generalised audit
software by small-medium-sized audit firms in the UK (Ahmi and Kent, 2013).
Research on CAIS in developing economies is at its infancy, for example, practices among
SMEs (e.g. Amidu, Effah and Abor, 2011), threats to security (Abu-Musa, 2006a; b),
implications for internal auditing (Abu-Musa, 2008), failure, success and local improvisation
(Heeks, 2002). Evidence on CAIS-related issues in SOEs in developing countries, however,
remains scant, despite the notion that public and private sector in both developing and
developed countries are equally affected by the advent of the CAIS. This study attempts to
fill this gap. The study contributes to the accounting and information systems by providing
empirical evidence on CAIS-related issues from SOEs in developing countries.

(TUJUAN)
Specifically, this study presents the results of analysis of four case studies in Ghanaian SOEs
that emerges out of their CAIS by answering five main research questions (RQ):
RQ 1 What are the conceptions of CAIS by SOEs?
RQ 2 - What factors motivate the implementation of CAIS in SOEs?
RQ 3 - How do SOEs assess their CAIS?
RQ 4 - What are the benefits of CAIS application to SOEs?
RQ 5 - What are the challenges faced by SOEs in applying CAIS?
This paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 reviews the extant literature on CAIS. Section 3
describes the methodology. Section 4 reports the results of the content analysis. Section 5
presents the discussion. Section 6 concludes.